Outlaws
by KaliturnedSaviour
Summary: AU. Derek and Chloe are assassins for rival supernatural corporations. When assigned to kill each other, they find that their skills are matched. Will they try to finish the job or will a mutual trust be established with their corporations as a common enemy? Eventual Chlerek.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Derek is an assassin from the Edison Group. Chloe is an assassin for the St. Clouds. Who will survive when they are assigned to kill each other, or will a larger force take them both out. AU. Definitely OOC in some parts. Eventual Chlerek.

* * *

The wind as it drifted by his nose was laced with her scent. Perfume, the faint scent of cosmetics, and sweat. Under it, he could still smell something else; fear. It made him smile. He heard the leaves behind him rustle ever so slightly. She was here, and it was time to do his job.

He had heard of the girl long before he had been sent to eliminate her. He had heard from one of his associates that she had killed a sorcerer by posing as a girl scout and stabbing him in the back when he turned to give her money. He had heard from another that she befriended the daughter of a werewolf just to gain entry into the house and poison him. Neither knew she was coming until she came. She was a veteran. She was dangerous. It made no difference to him, he had been assigned her elimination and he would succeed.

"Elimination" was what he did best. He was born and raised in an Edison Group facility. After the other boys from his "pack" had killed their teacher and subsequently been killed, he had been the only one left. At first the staff had wanted to get rid of him with the rest of the subjects until they realized he was "the docile one", that's when they began to train him. At the age of ten his schooling, which then only occurred only once a week and contained lessons on reading, writing and math, morphed into something entirely different. Suddenly the teacher he'd had for years after the accident - who would sometimes sneak him cookies and bring her son to visit him - was gone. She was replaced with a man with an evil sneer and scars lacing almost every bit of his uncovered skin. This new teacher brought new material. In place of regular math lessons, he learned where major arteries and nerve clusters were located. Before English, he learned how to use his strength to break bones and force a person into unconsciousness. The purpose The Edison Group had for making him had changed, he became their weapon.

He was startled out his thoughts when he felt a presence beside him.

"The moon looks so beautiful when it's full like this, doesn't it ?"

He resisted the urge to start as her voice came from right beside him. It startled him that he had only just heard her. All of his life he was the one who crept silently and surprised his targets. The thought that he was losing his touch rattled him. He collected himself as he felt the need to startle her back.

"It does indeed…" What was her name? He thought back to the file he had received when he was given the assignment to kill her. "…Chloe."

He felt her start at his use of her name. An assassin was much better when they were anonymous and he wasn't going to grant her the privilege.

She sighed beside him. "Well, I guess it's time for this to end."

He smirked. In her file he had read that not only was he sent to kill her but the endeavor was reciprocated; she was also on a mission to kill him.

He heard rather than felt her hand slicing through the air on a path to his solar plexus. He dodged as if to run, then as she went to follow, he swung back catching her across the face with his left hand. The force of the impact sent her reeling back before she gained her balance.

She laughed. "Strong little dog, aren't you?" She raised her hand and he saw her wave a syringe at him.

He growled instinctually and charged toward her, but his charge was cut off as his knees threatened to buckle. He frowned and lurched toward her a second time but she easily sidestepped him. She had drugged him.

She gave him a fake apologetic smile. "Just leveling the playing field."

Adrenaline surged through him. He stood still for a moment regaining his strength, willing his body to fight the drugs. She drifted forward slightly, retracing the instinctual step back she had taken when he charged her.

He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve. He lunged again and this time she was too slow to move. He caught the collar of her coat and flung her to the ground a few feet away. He snarled as seeing her small body skid across the grass brought up an unpleasant memory unbidden.

When he was training to become what he was now, he had always hated his trainer. The man had been abusive, calling him names and beating him mercilessly in training sessions. But when puberty hit his powers grew and his trainer grew angry when he realized that he was being bested. In one particularly challenging training session, his trainer had beaten him, reveling in his long awaited triumph. That he had taken in stride; his body would heal and his trainer would get angry again. It was when the man backed him into a corner that he had snapped. Dogs hate to be backed into a corner and as loathe as he was to admit it, at heart he was a wolf, the physical ancestor to canines. He hadn't been able to control himself as he flung the man into one of the brick walls of the facility's training studio. He didn't get up. He was the first person ever killed at the hands of Derek Souza.

The memory filtered away as the drugs tinged the edges of his vision gray. He went after her, his steps jerky as he struggled to maintain control of his body. The drug must have been powerful, because his metabolism - as it was with all werewolves - should have purged it quickly from his system. He knelt next to her as she struggled to regain her breath and flee. The only reason she had survived was because his throw was weak from the drugs. Even as it was it would have knocked out a person not used to that kind of pain.

He patted his pockets and his sheath. He had lost his knife. He mentally cursed himself about not bringing a gun. Every Edison Group assassin had a gun- except for him. He had told the other subjects that he didn't carry a gun because he thought it was barbaric to kill someone before they even knew they where going to be killed -which was partly true- but really he liked knowing the scent of the people he killed. It helped him imagine what they were like when they weren't fighting him or begging him not to kill them. Smelling of flowery perfume, cosmetics and sweat, he would have pegged the girl before him as a regular teenaged girl, probably right out of the mall or school. He looked down at her. Her blue eyes which had been wide were squeezed shut as she tried to pull herself away from him. He sighed. He had to finish it somehow. He moved toward her meaning to knock her out quickly so he could get his job done with when he felt something wrap around his legs.

He started and looked down. The skinny pale arms of a man clashed against the matte black of what he called his hunting ensemble. There was a bloody hole the size of a quarter on the right side of the man's head; his stomach roiled.

A little more frantically than he would have liked, he kicked the body off and walked toward the girl. Her blue eyes were open and wide, but she wasn't looking at him. He turned as a mass of fur launched itself at him. He stumbled and fell then kicked out, striking what felt like its haunches. The figure pulled back momentarily and he saw something metal flash around it's neck. He looked, finding a small metal plate with the name Rex engraved on it. It was a dog. A rottweiler by the smell of it.

The dog recovered, lunging for his neck. He rolled and tried to rise but the dog landed on his back pinning him. He let his arms stop propping him up and tried to put some distance between him and Rex. The dog followed eagerly and he struck at it again. The force of his blows, he realized, were the reason the dog moved back when he hit, not pain. Fighting off the dog, he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Attached to his leg solely by it's teeth was the skeleton of what he assumed was a badger. He picked it up with his right hand, fending off the dog with his other, and launched it into the woods where it promptly tried to crawl back to him. He kicked the dog and it retreated a few paces. He felt a cold and slimy hand slither around his neck and tighten. The dead man was back. Things were getting out of hand.

He heard a low groan beside him and saw the girl stand up stiffly and come toward him. Her right leg dragged slightly as she walked, making her limp. Something in her right hand glinted and his saw her clutch the handle of a double edged knife. She was going to kill him.

The memory of the first time he hadn't killed his target came. A boy lying on a hospital bed, tubes snaking in and out of his body. A man came in with a silenced gun, placing it against the boys temple and turned to him. The man told him if he failed again he would shoot the boy, if he failed after that he'd kill the boy's mother, after that he'd kill _him_. He never failed again.

"No!" He croaked, trying to breathe with the arm of a corpse cutting off his oxygen supply. The girl kept coming, clutching the knife.

"Please!" He gasped. "They'll kill him! They'll kill him!"

This gave the girl pause. She looked at his frantic expression and tilted her head. "If I let you go, you leave me alone and go."

He nodded desperately.

The girl sighed and closed her eyes. The corpse trying to strangle him let go and went limp. The dog stopped biting into his leg. The badger stopped crawling.

" Now-" The girl began.

As swiftly as he could manage, he swung around grabbing the wrist of her hand that held the knife, pinning it to her front from behind. He stiffened two fingers and jabbed them into her solar plexus. She staggered as the air rushed from her lungs. He let go of her and she fell to the ground, gasping. As her consciousness slipped away she looked up at him, eyes incredulous and filled with anger.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! I've published in other fandoms and gotten like two reviews on a whole story. This fandom is much more responsive. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

In hindsight, he realized after he had packed the prone body of the girl into an over sized duffel bag and left her in his adoptive brother's medical room, it was probably a bad idea to leave her alone with him.

He opened the white door to the sterile room. Sitting on the chair opposite his brother's bed was the girl, her eyes fixed upon him. She didn't look up when he entered but he saw that she was still clutching her knife.

"What is he to you?" She asked.

He frowned, though the question had been asked many a time before. "My brother."

Her left eyebrow dropped almost imperceptibly as she glanced between them. Him; tall and muscular, with dark hair and green eyes. His brother; thin from his sickness, with blond hair and almond shaped eyes. They weren't a matched pair.

"My adoptive brother." He amended.

In reality, Simon wasn't actually his adoptive brother, but they liked to pretend that Derek belonged to someone other than the Edison Group. Simon's mother taught the child subjects of the Edison Group's scientists in exchange for medical help for her chronically ill son. Her husband had disappeared years ago. None of them talked about it but it was an unspoken assumption that the Edison group had killed him.

"Can't you tell we're twins?" Simon piped up, his voice thready. The girl started and clutched the knife harder. Derek sympathized. It was an assassin's instinct to kill first then ask questions.

Simon tried to rise but he was held down by a hand. "You need to rest."

Simon's eyes darted to him. "Who's the girl."

He looked at her and smirked. "A friend." She scowled at the title.

She got up and walked out of the door and he darted after her. If anyone saw her they'd kill her. He'd have failed and they would kill Simon. He caught up to her as she strode down the hallway.

"What are you doing? " He asked, catching her arm.

"Leaving." She said, ripping her arm from his grip, and turning away.

"They'll kill him if I don't tag you. I won't let that happen." He felt a small amount of anger bubble up in him as she kept walking. He grabbed her arm and pinned her to the wall, a growl starting low in his throat.

"I won't let them kill him, and if that means you have to die because of that, I'm willing to take that chance."

She brought her knee up into his kidney and he fell away gasping for air.

"I've got my own people to protect. If I were you I'd get him out of here and hope they don't kill you both before you step out the building." He looked up at the worry in her voice and raised an eyebrow. She scowled and turned around.

"He has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Anemia, a myriad of ailments; if we leave he won't get the medicine or treatment he needs. I can't provide either." He knew it was foolish to try to convince someone to willingly let themselves be killed but his mouth moved without his volition. "Who are you protecting? "

Her lips pursed and he thought she wasn't going to answer. "My aunt and my dad." She muttered.

The vulnerability in her eyes gave him pause. She looked up at his silence.

"I'm going to warn them and then I'm getting out of dodge. I suggest you do the same."

He stared at her, at a loss for words. Suddenly he agreed with her completely. They had made him a killer. They had taken his childhood from him and made him kill for 4 years! It was time to take the time back.

He smiled what he knew was a predatory smile. The girl took a step back and the knife appeared in her hand when he knew it hadn't been there before.

"I think I'll take your advice."

* * *

Alright, this is kind of a buffer chapter. I have some things planned that'll heat this story right up.


	3. Chapter 3

Many thanks to Nicky G. and all of the other previous reviewers without whom I would have let this fic fade into obscurity. I have the next chapter already written but I have now idea how I'm going to end it. I'll try to post soon.

* * *

It gave him no small amount of surprise that his adoptive mother agreed completely with his idea. Of course, he didn't tell her that he had gotten the idea from another assassin or that he'd most likely be hunted down and killed. But it was the fulfillment of his idea or the death of his brother, so the choice wasn't quite hard. After that all that mattered were the specifics. He told them his plan.

"That makes not one bit of sense." His mother, whom he affectionately called _Ä__lskling _stated, raising a nearly transparent eyebrow.

He frowned, mumbling, "That's hardly fair."

"I just want to say," Simon said smirking. "If I die during this I'm blaming you."

He winced and Simon laughed.

His mother gave Simon a scolding look and turned back to him.

"_S_ö_tnos_, I think maybe we need to seek help." She said, using her pet name for Derek.

"From who? Who'll stand up to the Edison Group? Who's that stupid?" His words were loud from his anger and he looked to his mother apologetically.

Her lyrical voice calmed him slightly. "We are." She said, offering a sad smile.

He took a breath and sat on the bed next to Simon.

He looked between them. "What do you suggest?" They all shared a moment of silence and his hopes plummeted.

"There's a man, a friend of Kit's. He'd help us."

"Can we trust him?"

"He's helped others escape the Edison Group."

He pursed his lips. "How do we find him?"

"He doesn't live that far from here. We could take a bus there."

Simon looked between them. "How exactly are we supposed to leave? We can't just waltz out and wave." Derek and Ava were periodically allowed on outings but Simon's condition didn't allow him to travel much and leaving with him would raise suspicion.

He looked at Simon, his brother's blonde hair reminding him of the girl that had caused it all.

"I think I have an idea."

Simon frowned.

* * *

"This so stupid. I hate this. I hate you, and tomorrow I'm burning this duffel bag and stomping the ashes."

The duffel bag perched upon Derek's shoulder whispered.

He sighed. "You're supposed to be a duffel bag."

The duffel bag shifted, kicking him in the chest. "I'll be a duffel bag when someone comes, 'til then you're just gonna have to put up with me."

"Stop it, both of you." Their mother said under her breath. She looked at ease, her strides even and her back straight, but she couldn't fool him. Her pale eyes darted around and she worried the edge of her sweater between her fingers.

A dark shape appeared in his peripheral vision and he looked to see one of the guards stride by them. He didn't even glance at them. They just might make it out.

They came around a turn and saw one of the many glass doors leading out of the facility. He glanced at the woman beside him and she gave a weak smile. They pushed the doors open and strode through. A collective sigh of relief left the group. The loose stones that coated the grounds crunched under their feet as they walked through the parking lot. They passed a parking spot with the name Dr. Marcel Davidoff painted on it. Derek resisted the urge to spit on it.

They felt the rocks under their feet turn to grass and they turned back. The tall, glass and cement building that had caused and housed most of the problems in their lives was behind them. Despite himself, Derek found himself smiling. Freedom. The click of a gun being cocked sounded behind him and his mother froze.

"You know? I think I always knew this day would come. Why can't you just leave well enough alone, Derek?" It was Deino, one of the older assassins that had helped train him.

"Deino, it doesn't have to be like this. You could let us leave. You could even come with us."

His voice carried a tinge of sadness. "Derek, you know there's no escaping this place, they'll get you, Ava, and Simon one way or another."

Derek sighed. He was going to have to fight him. Holding the duffel bag that was Simon tightly against his shoulder, he pushed his mother out of the way, grabbed Deino's forearm and yanked. The man flipped over his other shoulder, screaming. Derek heard a fleshy crack as the man's arm broke.

His lupine instincts kicked in telling him to flee with his pack. He picked his mother up, threw her onto his other shoulder, and ran.

* * *

Sitting on the dingy blanket of a bed in a cheap hotel, Derek watched as his mother gave Simon his medicine and sat on the bed beside him. He noted -with some chagrin- that she'd been unusually quiet since they left the facility. He tried to convince himself that it was anxiety from leaving the facility, but he knew better. It was because of what he'd done to Deino. Both Simon and his mother knew what he was forced to do for the Edison Group but they usually didn't discuss it.

"_S_ö_tnos,_ you did the right thing."

"Then why doesn't it feel like it?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but a knock came from the door. Derek darted to his mother, shooing them both into the bathroom and instructing them to lock the door.

He positioned himself out of the way of the doors swing path and turned the handle.

"So, you decided to take my advice." It was the girl.


	4. Chapter 4

He scowled as she looked up at him.

"Yes I did." He made to shut the door, but she wedged her small foot in it.

"Aren't you gonna let me come in?"

"No."

"That's not very chivalrous. It's cold out here."

"Give me your weapons and you can stand in the hallway."

Grimacing, she opened her jacket withdrawing a side-handled baton, and a medium sized sword that she had bound by its scabbard to her upper body. She reached into the pockets of her black cargo pants and took out a small pistol, a pencil, and two syringes filled with the same milky liquid she had used to drug him. She handed the load of weaponry to him and took a step in but he put out a hand to stop her.

"_All_ of your weapons."

He received a grim smile and she reached into her back pocket. She removed a small double-edged knife. He stared at it. A red jewel the size of a golf ball was embedded in the hilt. She handed it to him and stepped inside.

"So what're you gonna do now?"

"I'm not telling you." His voice was slightly harsh.

She shrugged and glanced over her shoulder at the door. _Never go into an enemy's territory with your back to the door. _Derek knew the rule well.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Her eyes went wide then narrowed.

"I was just in the area and-"

"You don't have anywhere to stay, do you ?"

She scowled. "I felt sorry for you so I came over here to give you advice but if you're gonna be a jerk…" He dropped his eyebrows in a sign of doubt. Her shoulders slumped. "… and I have nowhere to go."

"You're not staying here."

"I know-" A whisper came from the bathroom. She leaped back, and pressed her back to the wall beside the door. A burst of fear came into her scent as Derek breathed in.

"A trap?" She breathed.

"My family." He replied. As if on cue, his mother stepped out of the bathroom.

"Derek, who are you-" Her eyes darted to the girl and then widened. "Chloe?" She gasped.

* * *

After much niggling from both Derek and Chloe, Ava finally capitulated.

"I used to work as a geneticist with the Edison Group before Simon was born. We used to work with embryo genetic manipulation, before they made me a teacher." After the shocked stares of both of them, she sat on the couch and finally explained.

"You mean…"

"Yes, Derek, I was one of the scientists that made you both what you are. It's a decision I've regretted all of my life." Her head hung slightly in shame.

Chloe piped up, dispelling her shocked silence. "If I was made in an Edison Group experiment, how'd I end up with the St. Clouds ?"

"You know why your mother participated in the experiment, yes ?"

"Yeah. My parents couldn't have kids." Her eyes tightened and she glanced at Derek but spoke to his mother.

"Well, your aunt used to work with the St. Clouds, but your mother and your aunt weren't speaking at the time so your mother went to the Edison Group to spite her. When the St. Clouds found out about you they sent a team to steal you."

A burst of Simon's scent reached Derek's nose as the bathroom door swung open behind him "Thanks for leaving me in the bathroom, thinking you'd all been slaughtered and other gruesome stuff. Don't worry I'm fine." Simon chimed in.

Ava ignored Simon. "Chloe," She hesitated. "Do you do the same … work as Derek?"

The lines around the girl's mouth tightened and she stood up. "I need to go." From the sound of her voice Derek could tell that her teeth were clenched.

"Wait," His mother stood to stop her then looked unsure. "Where are you going to go?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Probably bum a ride to my aunt's house, I need to lay low."

Derek saw where the conversation was heading and jumped in to stop it. "She is absolutely not staying with us."

"Derek-"

"No." She turned and stared at him, her pale eyes wide.

" Come on Derek. It's practically a sausage fest in here." Simon glanced apologetically at his mother. "Sorry Ma, you don't count."

"There's this guy my aunt told me about…"

"Andrew?"

She swore under her breath.

"Chloe, you can come with us."

Derek watched the girl's actions carefully. Surprise and a bit of a smile registered on her face. She hadn't expected to be allowed to stay.

Her next statement backed up his conclusion. "If it's too much of a hassle I-I could just go…"

"I know you don't trust us, but we could help you." The softening in the girl's eyes and posture surprised him.

It took a few minutes for the sleeping arrangements to be decided, an hour for Derek to do something other than glower at Chloe and two hours for the two teenage hired guns to close their eyes. Derek still glowered all through the night.

* * *

The bright pink of his eyelids indicated the rising of the sun. Cracking his eyes, he looked over to the cot the girl had taken to sleep in. She wasn't there. His breath sucked in and his eyes darted around furiously. His breath came out in a gust when he saw the spiky blonde hair that stuck out of a bump in the covers beside him. A sheet of nearly transparent blonde hair fell from the bump in the covers in the bed across from him. Both were undisturbed. A laugh came from the left of him and he leaped out of the bed, miraculously not waking Simon.

"You thought I'd actually do that?" It was the girl, perched cross-legged on the dresser at the front of the room.

"I had to be sure."

She shrugged. "I would have checked too." She sucked in her lip and bit it, looking down.

"I'd thank you for letting me stay but I'm sure you'd just as soon kick me out on my ass."

"My mother's too trusting."

"Maybe."

Something glinted in her hand and he saw that she was holding the small double edged knife with the jewel in the hilt. She was picking her nails with it.

"If you even think about using that..."

"I'm just holding it. It makes me feel better."

Derek raised an eyebrow in question.

"I-It, uh, well, the jewel was my mom's. She gave it to me as a necklace; she used to say that it kept the boogiemen away. I guess she meant the ghosts. The chain broke a long time ago, so I had it put in the hilt." Her voice was low, and her face was hidden by her hair and the shadows. He could tell she wasn't talking to him so much as reminiscing. "It still keeps the ghosts away, sometimes."

"I bet it also keeps the hit men away." Simon entered the conversation and they both jumped. He sat up slowly and stretched, his hair flattened on one side. Several cracks sounded from his back as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "When are we going to leave this dump ?"

The day continued in the pattern of its auspicious start. Events progressed in the order of Derek and Chloe getting into a brawl - which involved Derek threatening to decapitate Chloe and Chloe threatening to do something nearly as gruesome to Derek's genitals, Simon trying to throw himself in between the two to assuage them, and Ava smacking them both in the back of the head and swearing in Swedish. All in all it was a good morning.

The four of them made an odd ensemble as they strolled over to the nearest Greyhound stop, which was probably why everyone was staring or so they thought. Derek had been stared at before and it was nothing new.

" Uh… Hey, guys…" Derek heard Chloe's high voice come from behind his left shoulder and he felt her stop and look around. Derek somehow managed to scowl at her and increase his already quickened pace.

"Hello? Guys, this is serious." Both Ava and Simon started to look back at her but Derek ushered them ahead of himself with one arm and a glare.

The girl refused to be ignored. "Hey, you big wolfy bastard! "

That caught Derek's attention. He turned to her with snarl by which she seemed unfazed. She gestured impatiently to a nearby bulletin board. A "wanted" sign glared in the middle of the board with the grainy photo of a boy with unruly blonde hair. The seven figure number under the photo summed up Simon's infamy.

Derek immediately steered Simon to the nearest restroom.

* * *

A few long minutes later the ensemble left the bathroom missing one member and having gained a mysterious talking duffel bag. They got to the ticket stall, purchased tickets and went to wait in a nearby rest room. Ava told them to wait for her while she got them something to eat, a request to which Derek and Chloe responded with a chorus of "I'm not a kid!" and she walked away. An awkward silence fell on the group of teenagers. As the group gathered on a bench outside, Chloe endeavored to break it.

"Where will you go after this?"

"I would think we had already established that."

"No, not after we find Andrew. After this whole thing. After the Edison Group gives up, after you've run so far they can't follow. I don't know if you've noticed but we aren't regular high schoolers. We probably don't even exist in the real world. Do you even have a birth certificate?"

He turned and stared at her for a moment, completely rattled. He honestly hadn't seen that far into the future. He knew she was right, too. He had had no formal education, no true documentation, no idea of a career other than killing his next target and living another day.

"I suppose we'll have to get a place to live. I'll get a job soon. We'll get treatment for Simon. I guess we'll just survive…"

"I suppose we've got to make sure that happens in the meantime." Derek glanced over at the girl, noting how her folded hands jittered nervously. He felt the same way, this was the farthest he'd ever been from the EG facility and he was almost sure somebody was going to jump out from behind something and try to kill the lot of them.

"Your mom's been gone awhile, hasn't she?"

He frowned, looking at his watch, Ava had indeed been gone twelve minutes (and he knew because he'd counted) that it took her at least three minutes for her to order and between that time and the time that the actual food was in her hand she always came back to make sure the boys were obeying her orders. He was surprised when Chloe jumped from the uncomfortable seat and stood in front of him. She jerked her thumb behind her.

"Do you mind if I go check?"

He gave a grunt and she strolled away. The bag on his shoulder shifted slightly.

"This bag is _so_ uncomfortable."

"Still supposed to be a duffel bag,"

"What? Scared I'm gonna woo your scary assassin girlfriend."

Derek gave a dramatic sigh but didn't reply. Chronic illness or no chronic illness, Simon always seemed to have time to think about girls.

A sharp scream from the fast food area brought Derek leaping from his chair and sprinting to the counter. Chloe was engaging two men that had to be at least twice her size. Another was struggling to drag his mother's unconscious body from the building and was about to make a run for it. Lowering Simon onto a nearby bench, Derek sized up the battle and went after the guy holding Ava. Chloe was holding her own despite being the underdog.

"Put her down, now." His words came as a growl from deep inside his chest.

The guy apparently wasn't immune to the affect Derek's growl had. He dropped Ava's unconscious body and withdrew a gun from some unseen pocket. There are many reactions a person expects when pointing a gun at another person but Derek's was anything but typical. He snarled his rage and charged at the man. The man, he had to be no older than thirty, staggered back his eyes wide. There was a loud pop, a gasp, one strangled and the other one airy behind him. The choked gasp came from the man around whose neck his fingers had closed. The man had _dared _lay a hand on his mother, his pack. His _mother._ It was an inexcusable offense. He heard another loud pop and snarled, tightening his hold. A tugging came from behind him, a tugging which he ignored. The man gave a final gurgle and collapsed. Finally all of the other sensations, he had blocked out rushed back at him. There was tugging, and someone was hollering at him, _screaming _at him to stop and then pain, lots of pain. He blocked the pain as easily as he ever had and whirled around to the source of the tugging. The palm of his hand collided with something and it fell by his feet. He looked down to see Simon, angry and wiping red off his hands on to his pants. Derek's knees gave a tremble and he realized that the red was coming from him. He had been shot. He had been shot _twice._

"What the hell, Derek? We have to follow them! We have to follow them now!"

"What?" He mumbled.

"They're gone!"

Derek looked around. Ava was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Chloe. They had taken his mom. He inhaled the many scents surrounding him as he raised his nose to the sky. He sometimes found his sense of smell embarrassing or overwhelming but it was very useful in some situations. This was one of those. The awful generic scent of fast food was cloying but under it was the perfumed, feminine scent of the girl leading to the back exit. She had probably left as soon as she sensed trouble. _Coward_. He inhaled again. The assault team had already left abandoning their unconscious member. Their musky scents lead out the front door. He beckoned Simon after him as he followed their scent. The piercing sound of a siren came from the left so he skirted around the building, making sure they weren't seen. He couldn't know for sure but he had a hunch that they weren't his men. He had been duped. The girl was going to die if they met up again.

The scent led around the corner of the street and he saw the doors of a black van swing shut. Without a thought, he took off after the van. Even after having been shot twice Derek was a formidable force. He caught up with the van and yanked hard on the door. It gave under his hand and the five agents in the back, fully equipped in tactical gear, leaped back shouting. One of them had the presence of mind to rap his fist against the front panel of the truck. Leaping up, Derek grabbed the nearest one and hurled him from the suddenly moving van. He jammed his elbow into the face of another, his eyes falling upon a small bound figure, writhing under a tarp. With a roar, he grabbed another agent by the neck and cracked his skull against the head of the man beside him. Turning, he ducked under the swing of the last man and scooped his mother up, tarp and all. The van swerved as the agent stumbled against the front panel and Derek leaped out as it slowed down.

Stumbling to the side of the road, he laid the tarp on the grass. He shook it open and a small blonde body tumbled out, bound in rope and gagged. He rushed to help her up to see if she was okay… but she smelled wrong, his mother smelled of fake flowers and the alcohol carrier behind perfume, this body smelled of cosmetics and salt. He yanked her up, looking into Chloe's terrified eyes.

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I'm sorry but, cheesy though it is, I love the weapons reveal and then additional weapons cliché.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: This is not my work and I would quite like not to ****be sued.**

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Slumping to the floor, Derek eyed his small group. After dragging Chloe from the van that he had thought would hold his mother, he steered a weakened Simon and a stunned and still bound Chloe toward an automobile factory. The van had sped off in the opposite direction, but Derek's instincts still told him to run. If they left, they only left to get reinforcements. And they had his _mother_. Forcing himself up, he staggered over to Chloe, gripped her shoulders and shook her.

"Where did they take her?" He roared. Chloe's eyes widened and she mumbled around the gag. Reaching around her head, he yanked it off, keeping her caged in his hands.

"I don't know!" She cried, and he growled, shaking her again.

"Those weren't my men, but someone took my mother and you're going to tell me where they went."

"They weren't my people! I don't know who they were!"

"Listen," He growled, bringing her in close. "You know the things we've had to do. We can kill in seconds, but pain? We can make that last for hours. You know what I'll do to you if you don't tell me where she is."

For once, real fear sparked in her eyes. A hand fell on Derek's shoulder and he turned with a growl toward Simon.

"You're not going to do anything with those gun wounds. I've got to heal you."

"No," Derek grunted. "You're too tired as it is."

"I don't give a damn, Derek! I'm not going to watch you torture Chloe and if Mom really is gone then you're the only one I have left." Simon looked around himself, seeming to realize for the first time that he was shouting. "I can't just let you bleed to death." He finished, quietly.

"Okay," Derek said, softly. He turned, a hardness coming up behind his eyes. "I'll deal with you later."

As Derek propped himself up against the wall, turquoise light began to wind it's way down the veins of Simon's arms. It branched off and started to radiate out through his fingertips which he laid on Derek's abdomen. The bullets began to worm themselves back out of their entry wounds. Fragments gathered together and created new lacerations, retraced nicks in nerves and displaced tissue. Derek screwed up his face against the pain and brought his fist down upon the stone floor. When the bullets tinkled onto the floor the openings became cold, then warmed and the flesh knitted itself back together. A sharp flare of heat burst in each one and Derek couldn't help but cry out. Simon took his hands away, panting. His eyes rolled backward in his head and he slumped over sideways.

Chloe moved out of the corner of his eyes and Derek tried to leap up when she laid her hand on Simon's neck. He fell back with a gasp of pain, and realized that she was only checking Simon's pulse.

"He's fine." He gasped. "He's always been like that."

Chloe gave him a sideways look and he caught his breath before continuing.

"Before he was born they did something to him. They tried to make him more powerful or something, tried to emphasize Mom's genetics because they thought witches were more powerful. Turns out it ruined his magic and gave him a bit more of Mom's phenotype. When he does magic, it drains him physically too. And that's on top of a couple of genetic disorders. He'll be fine soon."

Chloe seemed satisfied by this response and sat back heavily.

"What's the matter with you?"

"They hit me. Hard." She touched a hand into her hair, wincing when it came back tinged red. "You still think those were my men? If this was a simple retrieval, they wouldn't have hit me so hard. And if those were your men, I'd be dead."

"Well, who the hell do you think they were then?" Derek asked, irritably. Chloe looked away contemplatively.

"We need to get you a bandage." Derek grumbled, patting his head.

Chloe almost-smiled at his concern. "Don't worry about me. We need to get somewhere safe. We're sitting ducks in here."

Derek leveled her with a hard gaze. "Do you really think any of us are in the shape to move?"

"We have to. At least up the stairs or down. The floors are arranged with only one stairway and a utility staircase on each floor. If they come for us they'll go down the primary staircase and we can escape out of the other. If I know the St. Clouds well enough, they'll send the bulk of their forces through the main entrance and hope they can get us before we have a chance to fight reserve will only engage if they need to."

"The Edison Group couldn't strategize their way out of a paper bag. And when they come for us we'll be ready."

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The slamming of van doors sounded in the night and Derek's eyes popped open. His eyes adjusted quickly and he saw Chloe and Simon sleeping beside him. Footsteps at the front of the building indicated that whichever organization had his mom was here for them now. Shaking off sleep, he shook Chloe's shoulders to wake her. She lashed out, her hand striking his face. Derek sat back with a curse. She hit _hard_. He grabbed her ankles and dragged her back to him. She kicked at him, trying to crawl away.

"Chloe!" He exclaimed. She froze, turning toward him with tears in her eyes. She seemed to realize suddenly where they were, who he was. She looked down at her wrists and brushed away the tears.

"What do you want?" She choked out.

"They're here."

Suddenly she was leaping up, drawing out her dagger. She winced, her hand going to her head. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We've got to make sure we have a head start. I don't want you fighting with your head like that. We need something that'll give us distance. Maybe you can use that trick you used on me?"

Giving him the barest hint of a smirk, Chloe nodded. "Can do."

Closing her eyes and leaning into him, she raised her arms to the sky, throwing her head back. Derek almost laughed at her dramatic pose, when a bat streaked in from a window. Another and another came and Derek realized that they were _wrong, _that bits of hair and skin were missing from them, from their very wings, and still they flew. More and more joined the fray, with dead birds, rats, and dogs rising at her call. Soon, the low dawn light was entirely blotted out by the density of her flying army. No matter how much of a cynic Derek thought himself to be, raising the dead at will would always send a chill up his spine. He could hear footsteps outside of the warehouse door and over the screech of Chloe's undead army the agents were shouting orders. Turning to Chloe, Derek tried to warn her that they would bust down the door any minute now, but the words died on his tongue. Her eyes, as they stared upward into the heart of the storm seemed black where they should be blue, and just as he began to back away, the door to the stairwell burst open. Agents in riot gear spilled into the room, rearing up at the sight of the animals.

"Now," Derek whispered, receiving no reply.

One of soldiers seemed to shake himself from his awe, firing into the army. The rest of the crowd seemed to follow, charging toward the group.

Chloe swept her arms down and the maelstrom on the ceiling swooped down, the army at the ground charging too. Derek could see bats flying at eyes, claws outstretched, rats and dogs biting into achilles heels then climbing toward more painful targets. Guns fired in the crowd and a body or two dropped, then rose to fight their own forces. Derek turned away, catching the horror written on Simon's face, and Chloe's face, creased into a snarl. That eerie black shadow that he half-thought he'd imagined still darkened her eyes. The report of a gun sounded once, then again closer in the darkness, and Derek turned and brought Simon down to the ground. Chloe cried out, brought her arms in, and Derek grabbed her newly bloodied sleeve to bring her down after them. As her concentration broke, her army dropped one by one.

"We need to get out of here," Derek barked. "I'm going to go scout the way. Can you keep it up until we're gone?"

Chloe bit her lip, unsure, then the strength he was constantly marveling at rose behind her eyes. "Of course."

Derek opened the door, and moved up the stairs into the main floor of the building. A squeaky door left him cringing but he slipped out and turned around the building, keeping low. Thankfully, the squad hadn't had the forethought to surround the building and from the smell of the grounds all remaining forces were situated at the front of the factory, allowing the group to sneak out of the back. The darkness rose into solid mass behind him and he had barely turned when a hand reached out of the form, forcing energy into him which seized his muscles, clenched his jaw and brought him to the floor. When the hand went away, he laid on the ground forcing air back into his lungs. Far away from him, Chloe shrieked and he rolled over. His breath left fast and he tried to summon that primal energy that would bring on his wolf form, tried to crawl away. When the hand came back, the darkness crept into his vision and the world fell away.

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Thanks so much for the reviews you guys. Also if anyone reading this is in the Skulduggery Pleasant fandom hit me up so that we can fangirl. If you're not then you need to read the books because their great and their coming Back!


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